Wire stem brush



July 21, 1959 R, Q PETERSON 2,895,155' v WIRE STEM BRUSH Filed Dec. 15,1955 lis a M? W m P 0 F 1) T TOR NEKYS.

WIRE STEM. BRUSH Ruben 0. Peterson, University Heights, Ohio, assignorto The Osborn Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation ofOhio I Application December 15, 1955, Serial No. 553,317

' 17 Claims. (Cl. 15-192) .This invention relates as indicated to aWire. stem brush, and more particularly to an improved form of brush .ofthe general type disclosed and claimed in my prior Patents 2,465,396,2,580,378, 2,603,921 and 2,690,631.

As described in my aforesaid patents, a substantially that layer ofbrush material may be secured between two generally flat opposed facesof parallel wire stem members and pressure then applied to such stemmembers locally to compact the brush material therebetween. The stemmembers will then be secured together, ordinarily by twisting butoptionally by spot welding, appropriate clips, etc., to retain the layerof brush material therebetween. In the case of crimped wire brushbristle material, for example, pressures on the order of 10,000 to20,000 pounds per square inch or more may desirably be imposed upon thewire stem members to compress the brush material therebetween, thegenerally flattened opposed faces of the stemmembers preventing cuttingof the brush material. I have found that when a layer of brush bristlematerial has been thus locally compacted between the stem members, itwill tend thereafter to expand somewhat, although not to the fulloriginal thickness of the layer, and such tendency of the layer toexpand assists in retaining the same tightly clamped between the stemmembers. .Moreover, whereas very high pressures such as indicated abovemay be required thus to compact the layer of brush material,nevertheless relatively little force is required to restrain thesubsequent tendency of the layer to expand and a wire stem member havinga tensile strength of only 100 pounds will generally be sufficientlystrong for the purpose for common size brushes.

It. is a principal object of this invention to provide a wire stem brushof the general type discussed above in which the opposed stem membersare formed in a manner to afford increased resistance to withdrawal ofthe brush material from therebetween under conditions of use.

Another object is to provide such brush in which the stem members areespecially formed to retain adhesive material assisting in securing thebrush material in place.

A further object is to provide such brush in which the brush bristlesare especially firmly gripped at two spaced points longitudinally of thebristles better to hold such bristles against swiveling. V Still anotherobject is to provide such brush in which .the brush bristles (frequentlywire) are both firmly gripped and also cushioned between the stemmembers to reduce concentrations of stress at such points and therebyprolong the useful life of the brush by reducing bristle fracture. I

' Other objects of the invention will appear as the descriptionproceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said inventionthen comprises the features hereinafte f i 1ll y described andparticularlypointed outin the claims, the following description and theannexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments2,895,155 Patented July 21, 1959 of the invention, these beingindicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which theprinciple of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one form of my new improved brush;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse cross-section taken on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing incorporation of abonding and cushioning agent;

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 2 but showing another form ofcushioning agent;

Figs. 5 and 6 are views generally similar to Fig. 2 but showing opposedstem members enclosed in outer sheaths of softer material; and

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a twisted stem brush of more or lessconventional appearance but which may incorporate my new improvements.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing and especially Figs. 1and 2 thereof, the embodiment of my invention there illustratedcomprises a wire stem member of general half round cross-section doubledupon itself at 1 with the generally fiat faces opposed and the two endportions twisted together to form a stem 2. A generally flat layer ofbrush material 3 which may, for example, be crimped wire bristlematerial is interposed between two straight parallel portions 4 and 5 ofth stem and firmly clamped therebetween.

As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the stem members may be formed withgenerally flat opposed sides such as 6 with the edge portions 7 and 8protruding somewhat beyond such face. The stem member is accordingly ofsomewhat arcuate or half-moon cross-section, the edge portions 7 and 8being rounded to avoid the formation of any sharply defined edge. Aswill be readily apparent, the brush bristle material 3 is grippedprincipally between the opposed rounded edge portions 7, 7 and 8, 8 withthe central region of the brush material being permitted to bulgesomewhat within the larger space afforded between the opposed faces 6.The brush bristles are therefore firmly held both against lengthwisewithdrawal from between the stem members and against swiveling action.

The modification illustrated in Fig. 3 resembles that of Fig. 2 with afurther provision of a layer of plastic material 9 against each of theflat surfaces 6, more or less filling the recesses between theprotruding edge portions 7 and 8. The brush bristles may still bulgesomewhat within the cavity between the opposed faces 6 but are embeddedin and gripped by the plastic material. Such plastic material willdesirably have strong adhesive qualities, the epoxy resin compositionsbeing particularly suitable, and they will be applied to the face 6 ofthe stem member prior to folding of such stem about the layer of brushmaterial. Preferred adhesive bonding agents are epoxy resin plasticizedwith polyethylene glycol, and epoxy resin plasticized with liquidthiokol polymer. These materials are effective in bonding and cushioninga wide variety of brush bristle materials including nylon bristles whichare increasingly employed for many uses.

In Fig. 4 another modification is illustrated where the opposed stemmembers 10 and 11 are of generally half round cross-section withlongitudinally concave opposed faces 12 generally comparable to therecessed faces 6 of Figs. 2 and 3 but affording somewhat more smoothlyrounded contours. Such stem members may be of pot annealed, half roundcotter wire having a Rockwell hardness of B 30-50, for example. A ribbon13 of elastomeric material is applied to such groove or recessed surface12, such ribbon being wide enough to extend betweenthe most closelyopposed side edge portions of stem,members,10 and 11. The brush material3 gripped therebetween is accordingly secured in the same general manneras that in Fig. 3 but is also gripped and cushioned bythe elastorneric.material. where it emerges from between the: stem members, reducingvibratory concentrations of stress in use and achieving longer. brushlife. The elastomeric material 13 ofFig. 4 willordinarily be bondedtothewire stemtmembers by an appropriateadhesive such as rubber cement.

The Fig. 5 embodiment is similar to that of Fig. 4 except that the wirestem members and 11 are completely coatedwith an.elastomeric sheath 14which may be extruded thereon or applied by means of alatex dip. Suchelastomeric material may be compositions of natural rubber, neoprene,butadiene-styrene co-polymer, butadiene-acrylonitrile co-polymer,vinyl-acetate co-polymer, styrene co-vpolymer, vinyl chloride-vinylacetate copolymer, and vinylidene chloride-vinyl chloride copolymer orother well-knownresiliently deformable material, as may be desired.These same materials may be deposited in the Fig. 4 grooves also.

The 'Fig. 6 embodiment somewhat resembles that of Fig. 5 but utilizesordinary wire stem members 15 and 16 ofroundcross-seetion. These stemmembers are enclosed within sheaths 17 of a resiliently deformableelastomer capable of yielding sufficiently to embed a portion of thebrush material 3 clamped therebetween. The clamping pressure, moreover,serves somewhat to spread and flatten the'engaged elastomericsurfaces'to afford a grip upon the brushsmaterial along a substantialportion of the length of the latter. As shown in Fig. 6, suchelastomeric sheath 17 may be split at 18 for lateral insertion of thestern members. In other words, such sheaths may comprise lengths oflongitudinally slit rubber tubing or the like. Alternatively, theelastomeric coating may be extruded on the wire.

While the novel features of my new brush construction are particularlyadvantageous when a generally flat layer of brush material is to begripped between opposed stem members in the manner generally illustratedin Fig. 1 (it obviously being especially difiicult adequately to holdthe'brush material in a brush of this type), the layer of brush materialmay if desired be twisted into a helix 19. In contrast to theusualtwisted stem brush of this type long commercially available, thebrush bristle material may be retained in a relatively flat compactlayer as shown.

Tools, of the type described above are particularly adapted \to bedriven at high speeds when mounted in drill presses or similar specialmachines and may be used to clean and finish the interior surfaces ofcylindrical openings. They are also useful in removing burrs and mayalso be incorporated in insulation stripping machines of the typedisclosed in my prior Patent 2,526,769. While the brush material 3 willvery commonly be crimped steel wirebristle material, other types ofbristle material may be utilized as desired, including horsehair,Tampico fiber, plastic coated glass fiber, nylon monofilaments, felt,wire mesh fabric and metal sheet material, depending upon the particularoperation for which the tool is designed. For many uses'these tools willdesirably be secured within a. slotted tubular holder of the type shownand described in my prior Patents 2,465,396 and 2,603,921.

The bristle or sheet material employed may often desirably have arelatively high Knoop hardness (at least 600 Knoop), Hadfield steelbeing a suitable example. The. twisted stems 2 may be ground to truecylindrical shape to ensure proper balance in high speed operation.Instead of twisting the opposed wire stem portions together as shown inFig. 1, they may be otherwisesecured as by spot-welding, for example.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed,change being made as regards the details described, provided thefeatures stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of suchbe employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A brush comprising a stem formed of a doubled wire of generalhalf-round cross-section, said wire being doubled with the convexportion of its peripheral surface outwardly and the opposed surfacesbeing longitudinally troughed, an adhesive material within such troughs,and a layer of brush material clamped between the doubled portions ofsaidwire andextending laterally therebeyond, said'brushmaterial-beingbonded to said wire by saidadhesive and mechanicallygripped by the laterally spaced longitudinally extending edge portionsof said doubled wire portions on each side of such troughs.

2. A brush according to claim 1, wherein said doubled wire portionsengaging said brush material are in straight, closely pressed parallelrelation and the portions of said wire extending beyond said brushmaterial are twisted together to form a stemand to secure the brushmaterial grippingportions in closelyspaced relation.

3. A brush according to claim 1, wherein said doubled wire portionsengaging said layer of brush material are twisted together to disposesuch layer in a helical pattern and the portions of such wire extendingbeyond said brush materiallayer are twisted together to form a stem.

4. A brush according to claim 1, wherein the opposed longitudinallyextending edge portions of said doubled wire portions gripping saidlayerof brush material therebetween are arcuate in cross-section to avoidundue localized concentrations ,of stress When the brush material isflexed in use.

5. A brushaccording to claim 1, wherein said layer of brush materialcomprises bristles extending transversely of said doubledwireportions.

6. A brush comprising a stem formed of a doubled wire of generalhalf-round cross-section, said wire being doubled with the convexportion of its peripheral surface outwardly andthe opposed surfacesbeing longitudinally troughed, a layer of deformable cushioning materialdisposed along such troughs and over the laterally spaced longitudinallyextending edge portions thereof, and a layer of brush material clampedbetween the doubled portions of said wire and extending laterallytherebeyond, said brush material being gripped by the cushioned edgeportions of said doubled wire portions.

7. A, brush according toclaim 6, wherein said doubled wireportions-engaging said brush material are in straight, closely pressedparallel relation and the portions of said wire extending beyond saidbrush material are twisted together to form a stem and to secure thebrush material gripping portions inclosely spaced relation.

8. A brush according to claim 6, wherein said layer of brush materialcomprises bristles extending transversely of said doubled wire portions.

9. A brush comprising a stem formed of a doubled Wire of generalhalf-round cross-section, said wire being doubled withthe convex portionof its peripheral surface outwardly and the opposed surfaces beinglongitudinally troughed, a layer ofdeformable cushioning materialenclosing said wire, and a layer of brush material clamped between thedoubled portions of said wire and extending laterally therebeyond, saidbrush material being gripped by the cushioned edge portions of saiddoubled wire portions.

10. A brush according to claim 9, wherein said doubled wireportionsengaging said brush material are in straight, closelypressedparallel relation and the portions of said wire extending beyondsaid brush material are twisted together to forma stem andto secure thebrush material gripping portions in closely spaced relation.

11. A brushaccording to claim 9, wherein said layer ofbrush materialcomprises bristles extending transversely of said'doubledwire portions.

12. A brush comprising two parallel closely spaced unitary wire stemmembers having hollows in their opposed faces, adhesive material in suchhollows, and brush material clamped between said opposed faces andextending laterally beyond said wire stem members, said brush materialbeing bonded to said wire stern members by said adhesive interlocked insaid hollows.

13. A brush comprising two parallel closely individual stern portionshaving longitudinally extending hollows in their opposed faces andlongitudinally extending edge portions on each side of such hollowsprojecting toward said edge portions of the other said stem portion, anda compressible layer of brush material extending transversely of andlaterally beyond said stem portions, said brush material being clampedbetween said opposed edge portions and bulging into such hollows toresist withdrawal.

14. A brush comprising a stem formed of a doubled wire of generalhalf-round cross-section, said wire being thus doubled with the convexportion of its peripheral surface directed outwardly and the opposedsurface portions being longitudinally troughed, and a compressible layerof brush material clamped between the doubled portions of said wire andextending laterally therebeyond, said brush material being mechanicallygripped by the opposed edge portions of said wire on each side of suchtroughs and bulging into such troughs for improved retention by saidstem.

15. A brush comprising a brush material supporting stern formed of anelongated metal element of general half round cross-section doubled withits convex surface outwardly, the opposed surface portions of saidelement being longitudinally troughed, a compressible layer of brushmaterial disposed transversely between said 0pposed longitudinallytroughed surface portions and actively compressed and firmlymechanically gripped by the opposed longitudinally extending edgeportions of said longitudinally troughed portions, said brush materialbulging into such opposed troughs, and said doubled elongated metalelement being twisted to join the two parallel extending portionsthereof together and thereby to maintain the pressure With which saidlayer of brush material is compressed and gripped therebetween.

16. The brush of claim 12 wherein said wire stem members are portions ofa single doubled wire.

17. The brush of claim 13, wherein said stem portions are formed of asingle doubled wire.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS930,375 Hascy Aug. 10, 1909 FOREIGN PATENTS 139 Great Britain Jan. 15,1866 41,454 Germany Nov. 4, 1887 409,462 Great Britain May 3, 1934UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.2,895,155 July 21, 19.59

Ruben. 0 Peterson It is hereby certified that error appears in theprinted specification of the above numbered patent requiring correctionand that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 5, line '7, after "closely" insert mu Signed and sealed this 5thday of January 3.9600

Attest:

KARL H. .AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Oflicer Commissioner ofPatents

